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Meredith Petraeus
Still working on it. Meredith Petraeus '''is a character played by Myles. Meredith served as a Brigadier-General in the Royal Ardougnian Armed Forces under Field Marshal Garrus Dae before being sent on a 15 year long mission to uncover a rare relic. After assisting High King Augustus Dae and Val Dae to hunt down their relative, Garrus Dae, she became a high ranking Crimson Knight acting as the Kingsguard to Augustus. She is later placed inside of the Royal Order of the Lion and given command of the Lion Knights. Appearance Meredith stands at a modest height of 5'7" with a lean build, that comes from a lifetime of being either a Knight or Military officer. She has curly blonde hair and a pair of dark blue eyes that seem to flare red while channeling her magic. With high cheekbones, a well built nose and a heart shaped face she has often been viewed as a beauty at first glance. She has been thought as to have the 'girl next door' look, or rather homely. She often wears her blonde hair tied up in a braid that wraps around her head, or something of that form, and in private wearing it down flowing. She has either been seen wearing the red armor of a Crimson Knight, or now the gold and blue armor of a Lion Knight. At social or formal events she sports a usual white and red dress. She has a large scar on her right inner thigh from when she was stabbed by a spear during battle, and a few lingering smaller scars scattered around her form from different fights. Personality Meredith was raised into a minor noble household and from a young age was told she would be a commander of men. Her Family, hating magic, suppressed her abilities, causing Meredith to hate her own natural ability as a mage and threw herself in being the single best soldier and officer she could be. A level of self hate and self doubt started to grow and rot inside of Meredith causing her to hate magic and herself more and more. She was jealous of those who had the free will to practice the art while she was bounded by her Family rules. Meredith was never religious when it came to the Church of Saradomin, though she was raised as a practicing Saradominst. She had some training as a Knight-Templar, being very Faithful towards the basic teachings of Saradomin; protect the weak, be a man or woman of honor, and live a honest life. Meredith personally identifies with Saints such as Erysail the Pious and Essiandar Gar, the Priestley Warriors of Old, she follows them as her Patron Saints. Due to the lost of her first and true love, her ideas on relationships are often simply physical, taking women at whim though never lasting. Her only lasting relationship since her first was with Maela Aerendyl, before she too, left Meredith. Meredith has often been described as a lioness, with flowing blonde hair and a praetor look to her face. With blue eyes often burning with anger, it is usually in that moment, her Bloodfire sparking without her control in these moments. Or also in moments to protect those in need. Before the events of the Relic hunt, Meredith was a loud, in your face type of commander. She was well liked and respected in the military circles of Ardougne. Though following the dark events of those 15 years she came out scarred both mentally and physically. She is rather quiet, at times only offering dry remarks to things on hand, but mostly she is silent, as if afraid to speak out loud. Currently, she acts as the silent watcher and protector of the High King and is often viewed as his left hand. Skills and Abilities Magic Blood Magic Something she had an natural gift with, most of her studying before the relic hunt was very basic. She had to test things by herself and without proper learning. During and after the relic hunt, her ability with Blood Magic was strengthen tenfold, mainly due to the influence brought by Garrus Dae. Holy Magic Similar to Blood Magic, it was something she naturally caught onto. She was more public in her use of fire magic, she was commonly seen in battle swinging a flaming sword back and forth, cutting through lines of enemies. She used the same magic seen in Holy spells to further the power of her fire magic, giving the fire an edge in burning through creatures of the darkness. Prayer (Faith) Having being a faithful Saradominst for most of her life and having training as a Knight-Templar for the Church of Saradomin, Meredith has the ability to channel into the prayer system. Having been trained as a Knight she has the ability to use special prayers, channeling her piety and faith to strength her body during melee, or channeling her spiritual force to heal her wounds. Melee Swordsmanship Her weapon of choice, Meredith is quite skilled with a sword. Being taught since she was a small child she is never far from her blade called ''"Wrath". '' Intelligence Like most of the Cadets and later Officers of the Ardougnian Military, they were selected from a young age to study under the very best teachers money could buy. Meredith was as very studious student and took to subjects having to deal with History and Writing. She is of a high level of intelligence mainly due to the experiences she has gone through Languages Common - Mastery in spoken and written Karamjaian - Skilled in both spoken and written Family and Friends ''Family:'' ''Father - Coriolanus Petraeus ''Mother - ''Elizabeth Petraeus, Maria Arenburg ''Bothers/Sisters - ''None '''''Friends: ''Farin Dace -'' A Dwarf first found in the Ruins of Kal-Gmark, Farin later became a Crimson Knight with Meredith, and is a close friend of Meredith ''Valencia Dae -'' Having met in the Temple, Meredith has a lingering attraction for her, though the two have later become best friends ''Augustus Dae -'' Her Liege Lord, Augustus has earned the respect of Meredith and the two have a building friendship ''Mary -'' Her pet husky puppy that was given to her by Val, Mary was named after a close friend of Meredith's. Notable items * A full set of Lion Knight armor, mithril quality, dyed dark gold * A mirthril sqaure shield dyed to meet the color of the Lion Knight armor * A mirthril kiteshield bearing the Saradomin Star, enchanted to war against shadows, "Lightbringer" * A mithril sword called "Wrath" '' * A dragon longsword also called "''Wrath" * A locket from Lesia Aakhus, that acts as a Holy Sign History Early Life (Pre-Rp) Meredith was born into the minor noble family of Petraeus, who earned their nobility by being public servants to the Crown and always giving capable military officers. They were on the bottom of the noble society ladder though, not like the Daes, Blackwoods, and Aerendyls who ruled from the top. Her Father, Coriolanus Petraeus, was a retired Ardougnian military officer and would do nothing to raise in power. Her Mother, Elizabeth, had died when she was young, leaving her father in a shaken state for the rest of his adult life. Due to an accident as a child, Coriolanus was raised with a strong hatred for anything magic. When Meredith and her siblings started to show a natural ability towards magic, Coriolanus fell into a rage of anger and was ready to beat the "taint" out of them. Due to this, Meredith found very quickly that any dream she had of being a scholar mage was gone. She would do her Family honor and become the military officer she was meant to be, even though she hated every moment of it, and started to hate herself for allowing her Father to control her life. The War College Sent at the tender age of 15, Meredith was sent to the Blackwood War college in the heart of Ardougne. Though the War college was mainly used for active duty Army personal, there were classes for younger men and women to take if they wished to. Meredith's father wished for her to have an early start on her military career, still unsure of herself, Meredith pleaded with her Father to send her to the Wizard's Tower instead. It was the first and last time her Father laid his hands on her, in a fit of rage he slammed his fist into Meredith's eye. From the moment onwards, Meredith forgot any dream of becoming a mage and hated her Father with a burning passion. The next morning she was shipped off across the City to the War College where she sent the next 5 years studying and training. There she met her first love, Lesia Aakhus. A tall, dark skinned female cadet that was in the same class of Meredith. It so happened was the same time Meredith found her attraction to the same sex. The two became the best of friends within weeks of meeting and by the end of their first year they had entered a secret relationship. Though same sex relationships were generally accepted in Ardougne and the Army, the two still found it odd being touchy in public. The two, over the course of the four years of schooling, fell deeply in love with one another. They had found what they were always searching for in each other. Meredith feared her Father finding out about the two though, Coriolanus had drilled it into Meredith's mind that she must find a respectful husband to marry and bear him grandchildren. For the two, they were lucky, once they earned their commission they could be free to open about their relationship, beyond the reach of Meredith's Father. Blood and Holy Fire Though she was being trained in the art of sword fighting and the sorts, Meredith never did lose her thirst for magical knowledge, and the War College held a wealth of knowledge on all matters of magic, both Light and Dark. It was during one of her late night studying moments when she cut herself badly while working on her knife work. Cursing herself for her ill moves, she looked for something to dress it, but she felt and odd pull towards the blood. She found that if she focused on the blood dripping from her hand she could form shapes with it. This lead to a number of nights studying how far she could take this. Little did Meredith know her Family's past with Blood magic, and that she had stumbled on just why her Father hated magic. While at the College, she became close to a number of Church Knight-Templars who were undergoing their years of Templar training. She was able to tutor under a few of the Church teachers and was able to enchant her fire to hold strong elements of Holy Magic, a odd but yet powerful tool when paired with blood magic. Nothing gold can stay During their fifth year of the War College and their last, Meredith, Lesia and a number of other would be officers were sent on one of their many intense training missions. Given personally by Aegidius himself, their group was to land on the shore of Kamaja, locate a local rebel leader, and ensure his plans were put to an end. What the Field Marshal didn't tell them, was actually how to do it. This being one of their final tests in everything they had learned, Lesia was the one who stepped up and took natural command over this, something that Meredith did not mind. The group landed in the middle of the night and marched through the jungle until dawn to reach this would be rebel camp. Meredith, herself, questioned what was the purpose in this, the risk of the entire group dying was high. She tried finding some source of comfort from Lesia, but she only met a stonewall, Lesia was fully committed to the mission and passing this test. The group of 5 or so Cadet Officers plus a company size force of regular Ardougnian soldiers, moved into position around the jungle camp. Lesia gave the command and the force fell onto the Rebel camp with a brute efficiency. The Rebels were not ready for the attack at all, and most were still waking up or sleeping. Meredith did her job and cleaved her way through the soldiers that were awake. She watched in horror as Lesia gave the command to drag the sleeping soldiers and executed the rebels. Meredith rushed forward channeling the order, Lesia only glared at her and forced the soldiers to hold Meredith back from stopping the killing. "Orders are orders, Meredith. The Field Marshal said to leave no one living." Those would be the last words Meredith ever heard from her love, as they marched through the jungle again, it seemed the rebels had a few men lingering in the trees, Lesia's life was ended with a cross bolt to her chest. As Meredith held her in her arms, she felt her heart breaking for the first time, Lesia gave her the other half of a locket they had gotten together during their third year at the War College, "Remember me, I love you so much." With Lesia eyes closing for the last time, Meredith broke there in that moment. Throwing her head back in a mix of a cry and scream, the rebel was paused in fear, as the blonde tackled him, running him throw with her sword before slamming a rock into his face over and over again. She was going to let them live, she never wanted this life, she only ever wanted Lesia. Leaving the body of the slain rebel, she held Lesia close to herself, the rest of the party did not know what to do, giving Meredith a few moments alone. Meredith prayed to Saradomin to protect Lesia and lead her to His side, before placing one final kiss on her lips. She took the locket that hung around Lesia's neck, a small thing that had both of their names written on it. Meredith picked herself up, taking the locket and placing it around her neck. She raised a different person, colder and harder than before. She denied anyone else to carry Lesia's body, and for hours through the jungle, she carried the body of her love on her back or in her arms. No one commented on the exchange of love vows from the two, there was no need. Meredith finished up the end her final year in the War College in an almost silence. She ended the top of her class and was offered a slot in Task Unit 1, she refused though, Lesia's dream was to be that, she couldn't. Instead she earned her commission as an Army Lieutenant, still broken inside. First Blood Following her years education at the Blackwood War College and her heart being broken, Meredith finally earned her commission has a Lieutenant in the Royal Ardougnian Armed Forces. She would go to serve under the Homeguard Brigade which acted as a reserve unit that would be called up in times of war or national emergency. Due to her Family's last name and history of service she was placed away from any active battle zones and did not serve in a battle until the Imperial Crisis in Ardougne. She was along one of the few Ardougnian soldiers there and fought next to Ausar and Aegidius on the bridge and then into the White Castle. Though she personally had a lingering distaste of both Ausar and Aegidius, she was a soldier and as her Father told her, that is all she would ever be. Meredith was wounded during the fighting after taking a spear to her inner thigh that tore though her harden leather. With a spear still in her thigh she felt something break inside of her, as if a seal had finally been broken down. Her sword caught fire suddenly as her blue eyes glowed a dark red. Her flaming sword swung down onto the White Knight who was cooked slowly in his plate armor. The fire magic mixed with blood magic, the bodies of the White Knights she slain in powered and healed any wounds she suffered. Breaking the spear she assisted in leading the charge across the courtyard and into the castle itself, earning her a fearful respect from her soldiers and a glare from the Field Marshal. She later returned to Ardougne having been promoted to the rank of Captain, Meredith was unsure if she had angered the higher command due to the fact her new promotion kept her deep underground underneath Ardougne dealing with issuing supplies to the Armed Forces. A Second Chance Following the Battle of Hemenster against the Pravens, Meredith was finally moved out from the supply position she held and back into the field. Stationed the Citadel she met Maela Aerendyl, another strong willed female Officer. With Aegidius Blackwood leaving the post of Field Marshal and Garrus Dae taking command, the two were switched to work on his personal command staff. Though in reality, the two and the rest of his Staff actually ran the Army, as Garrus did not seem to want the position or did not care for the running. It was during this that Meredith and Maela formed a physical relationship. The two blondes did not hide the fact that they were with each othereachother anyone that commented on that fact was quickly swept to the side. Meredith, though, found that this was becoming more than just a physical relationship. But, when Maela was sent away from the Citadel, in doing so she broke off her relationship with Meredith. She hated herself for allowing her to fall for someone else yet again. She felt that she had cheated on Lesia, it had been years now, and she still couldn't let go of the dark skinned girl that claimed her heart. She shared one last night with Maela before they parted their ways, she tried to ignore the feelings that had formed during it, but Meredith crushed them the best she could. She hugged the locket that Lesia had given her, at least she had this small thing to carry with her forever. The Major In return, Meredith was promoted to the rank of Major and placed over into Garrus's newly formed Praetorian Regiment. A group used as the personal Field Marshal's guard and a special force for missions that the regular Army could do. These missions ranged from taking out political enemies in Ardougne, seeking and killing Rebels, and finding ancient relics. Meredith spent the rest of her Army career here with the Praetorian Regiment. The Red Countess One of the very first missions that Meredith undertook as one of the commanding officers of the Praetorian Regiment was investigating into a Ardoungian Countess who the Field Marshal thought to be arming a rebellion against the Queen. Meredith and a small group of members from the Praetorian Regiment were sent into the Countess Household to act as a Sellsword group who wished to become new members of the Countess Household Guard. The Countess took a liking to Meredith and quickly she was brought into the inner circle of the Family. Garrus was correct in thinking that they the Family was planning a takeover though the means sent a shiver down Meredith's spine. The Arenberg Family, Meredith found out, had a long connection with the Zaorsian Imperium from ages past. The Family were rumored to have blood connections with Mahjarret that lived and served during the time period. The Countess, Maria Arenberg, formed a friendship with Meredith. The Countess being older and a mother like figure to Meredith, something she never had growing up. She slowly forgot what her mission was and set into a day to day life in the Arenberg Family, serving as the personal guard to the Countess. Garrus demanded for Meredith to either eliminate the Countess or ensure she swears fealty to himself. Meredith opened up to Maria about her past issues, from the issues with her Father, her blood magic to the lost of Lesia. The women in returned offered advice on how to let go from the past and how to start living. Maria also showed Meredith the dark secrets of the Arenberg Family, giving Meredith much needed lessons on how to improve her Blood Magic and Fire Magics. Though the small moment of peace and happiness Meredith had was forced to come to an end. Garrus was sending a force to kill and burn the entire Arenberg Family, Meredith had to pick; either warn Maria or allow Garrus to kill the only thing she had to a Mother. Meredith, picked love over duty, she warned Maria who was able to flee just hours before the forces of Garrus appeared. Meredith told Maria everything, why she was first sent and how over time she looked to her as a Mother. Maria understood and thanked Meredith for picking her, calling her the daughter she wished she had. That was the last time Meredith saw Maria for a very long time. The Fable After the Arenburg situation, Meredith went back to Ardougne and Garrus assuming her life would be taken for the failure of killing Maria. Standing before the Field Marshal she was shocked to hear that he was in fact promoting her to the rank of Bridger-General and giving her command over the entire Praetorian Regiment. He spoke about on how that the Arenburg had a connection with what was Zaros's Imperium, something that Meredith had a basic understanding of. He explained that due to Meredith becoming close to the Countess she did not burn any of the ancient information the family kept on the Imperium, she simply did not have the time to do so. Allowing Garrus to find the fable about something simply known as the "The Oracle" . Garrus gave Meredith the order that would change her life forever take the entire Praetorian Regiment and find him this Oracle, ''which the myth states offered immorality and unimaginable power. Meredith could not say no without the losing her life in the progress. Meredith and the rest of the Praetorian Regiment set sail from Ardougne sometime before the Elven Conflict but still under the rule of Queen Ilaria, their goal was the western coast of Karamja where their orders were to set up a small port and then march Eastwards. The Long March After making landfall on Karamja, the Regiment spent a number of weeks building a small fort and port on the shoreline, which would become the main base of operations as the they searched the dense jungle for any signs of what they were looking for. Meredith found this entire journey a massive waste of everything, it was odd though, the soldiers under her seemed to crave to find this relic as badly as Garrus. They worked with an almost religious fever when she gave an order, anything to please the Lord Marshal they said. With a base set up and a steady flow of supplies coming from Ardougne the newly made General looked towards the Jungle to start the actual searching. The locals were most hostile to what they called the "white devils", Garrus gave the order to burn any village that wouldn't bend to the Ardougnian military rule. It was odd for Meredith, she had flashes to when she was last here, where she lost Lesia. She was given a similar order, to kill the rebels who had even surrender, the Meredith then fought against the order like she would now. But this Meredith was too scarred, she sent a raven back to Garrus saying that the local natives would either be killed or used in labor in the search for the Oracle. Meredith tried to ignore the feeling of dread in her stomach as she started to slip. Using the native population and soldiers, Meredith started sweeping through the base. Those who did give into the Military rule were of some help in finding the truth in the fable. They spoke of a Temple deep into the jungles, they warned though, of monsters that linger in the dark parts of the jungles, that spirits from a long ago battle still linger near the Temple. Meredith gave the order to start the march through the jungle, she allowed a group of a few hundred men and a handful of native locals to guide them. The march would be remembered as the Long March, due to the weeks that it took for that group to get news back to Meredith on the coast. Somethings should of left forgotten It was a number of weeks before the first report arrived from the first unit Meredith sent into the Jungles. They reported that they were making good process through the heavy brush. The reports told of faceless shadows that soldiers had reported in seeing in the corners of their eyes during downtime. The Natives who guided them seemed to grow more restless as they trekked deeper into the jungle. They told that they had long passed over onto the battlefield of long ago, and that this was an evil place. Meredith then lead another group into the jungle, taking a well large amount of the Praetorian Regiment with her, while leaving a force to hold the small port they had created. The journey through the jungle for Meredith took even longer than the first one, do to the fact the sheer number of troops and supplies that had to be carried. The Regiment ended up clearing a path that lead to the Port and to where the Temple laid, building a small road system and a number of small forts along the way. When Meredith and the Regim ent finally made it to the resting place of the Temple, many weeks later, Meredith found that over half of the soldiers she sent in the first unit had been killed in brute ways. The story went that when they tried searching the first level of the cave that head the path to the Temple, the defenses of the Temple reacted and attacked the soldiers. The shadows seemed to become alive every time someone walked into the cave system, turning and taking anyone who dared to entrance as one of the shadows. A voice inside of Meredith's head rang that she must do whatever was necessary to get into the Temple, Garrus was waiting for the word that the Temple had been reached. And she knew the subtle threats and not so subtle threats he had already given her is she failed in this. She had a small moment of clarity as the Regiment built a base camp outside the caves, whatever was here, should of stayed forgotten, them being here, had awaken something. The Temple Having to call in a number of Knight-Templars and holy mages to assist in warding against the shadows and other undead creatures that protected the Temple, the Regiment and Meredith ha finally found the front doors to the Temple. Garrus had arrived earlier, bringing more men, supplies, and large digging equipment. Through their digging and searching Meredith found that the temple was in fact an ancient Saradomin one. Meredith theorized whatever Oracle was placed here had to be Saradominst while the fable told it as a tool of something called the "Empty Lord". The Regiment and Meredith faced a number of trials and tests to pass through the Temple. Though some of these tests were corrupted with an unspeakable evil. Though finally they reached the bottom, where the Orcale was meant to rest, they only found an empty room and another doorway that lead into the Deep. Though, what no one knew, was that Garrus did find what they were searching for. Called the "''Gaze of the Empty Lord", ''it was an magical orb that was said to be wielded by a number of powerful wizards and witches during the God's Wars and the age following before it disaeppered from all written texts. It was also said to be the keys to a long forgetten cache dating back to the God's War. There they found one of the ancient and forgotten Dwarven Cities called, Kal-Gmark. Kal-Gmark What the Dwarves kept hidden and lost there, should of stayed that way. Whatever lead the cause to the Dwarves leaving the City had been lost to time, but when the Praetorian Regiment entered the walls, it became clear that they were not alone. A mutated type of cave goblins seemed to live here, they had long taken over the city as their own and reacted badly to the humans coming. The Regiment kept their own against the creatures, who had almost no arms or armor, but they seemed to never stop coming. It was then, Garrus made a sudden peace with the creatures. Meredith finally saw it then, the orb had been taken under control of Garrus, bending the unwavering power to his will. Cave goblin and human alike came under his will, it was only too late for Meredith to realize this. Kal-Gmark became the breeding ground for Garrus's new army. While his Father his own plans for the evolution of Humanity, Garrus had a much worse one. Through Blood Magic and Sin, the women and men of the Praetorian Regiment were corrupted. The women being fused to breed a new type of monster, a hybrid of a corrupted cave goblin and human, they would later be called "''Broodmothers". Those who were not fully able to become the Broodmothers were changed into a horrific creature stuck half way through, these were later called "Horrors" The males that were correctly corrupted and did not fall into madness, would be later called "Broodfathers". For Meredith she was spared from being fused to become a Broodmother, but it was the start of the end for her. Garrus, with ease, had violently taken over her mind. Any member of the Praetorian that questioned Garrus, would now have the raging force of Meredith to deal with. Garrus had planned to turn Meredith into something simialr to what his Father did to Aegidius Blackwood, thinking that Meredith, if she had the right amount of power, could become the General of his Armies and his bride. Meredith lost all sense of time and being, she became a mindless slave to Garrus, assisting and issuing the orders to corrupt and change the Praetorian Regiment. All 6,000 of them had now entered a 15 year hell. Of the Faithful During this time of not having control over herself, Meredith locked her key being into a small box in her head, while everything else was harshly taken over by Garrus, who destroyed much of Meredith's mind and have turned her into a mindless spawn for him to use as he pleased. Under both Meredith and Garrus's command the Praetorian were turned into an army of the damned, only a few reminding untouched, hiding in the Deep that Kal-Gmark rested in. Meredith laid there broken on the cold stone floor of the old palace of Kal-Gmark. Her body, mind and soul broken from the mistreating of Garrus and his magic. Her breath became light, eyes closing. Garrus had gone too far this time, Meredith's spirit was finally breaking. She was able to move her hand to grab the locket and holy sign that hung from around her neck. Silent tears ran down her face as she felt herself letting go, her breathing becoming lighter and lighter. It was in that moment, she heard the voice of Lesia in her ears. She could feel and see the white form of a spirit bending down next to her, taking her up into the her arms, whispering to her. It was in that moment, Meredith did raise anew. She found her sword that was near her, flaming with white flames. Her right hand grasped the hilt of the blade, the rush of warmth running through her. She had a war to win. Shadow of the Storm Fun Facts * Meredith was inspired by the Runescape Lore characters such as; Erysail the Pious and Essiandar Gar * Meredith was based off of a number of historical, biblical and game characters in the attempt to make a female Knight * Due to the time in Karamja Meredith speaks with a Rhodesian accent, somewhat similar to a South African Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Military Category:Commander Category:Noble Category:Warrior Category:Mage Category:Modern Magic user Category:Saradominist Category:Ardougne Category:Melee Category:Humans Category:Ancient Magic user Category:Chaotic Category:Knight Category:Incomplete Articles